DOVER — John Allen Wright was sentenced to 50 years in prison by the Judge John Lewis on Monday in the Strafford County Superior Court. Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi brought 18 charges of sexual assault on minors against Wright, who took a plea deal, thereby waiving his right to appeal the sentence.

Wright, 48, formerly of Charles Street in Milton, entered his guilty plea on charges for sexually abusing two young special needs boys in his care. The former bus driver's charges included three for felonious sexual assault against one victim. For the other victim, he was charged with two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, five counts of felonious sexual assault, four counts of indecent exposure, and four counts of simple assault.

All charges against Wright were enhanced, meaning they carried harsher sentences, because his victims were younger than 13. The boys were born in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

Court documents detailed the graphic events the then 5- and 6-year-old boys were subjected to. Velardi described the young boys' disabilities as limiting them from reporting the incidents and their physical disabilities as preventing them from stopping the abuse.

“All of the investigators who worked on it described it as one of the most horrific cases they've seen,” said Velardi.

Earlier this year in February, Wright was sentenced by the U.S. District Court to 160 years, for one count of possessing child pornography and five counts of sexual exploitation. The U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, John Kacavas, told Foster's at the time that he was “grateful” his request for such a high sentence was accepted, although he said “there's no joy” in pursuing something of this nature.

The case was discovered when the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force connected the bus driver to the trading of child pornography images. Wright, the man who had worked for Provider Bus Services since 2008, was arrested in September of 2011. His home computers were searched, revealing sexual abuse videos that authorities deemed “homemade.” Upon further investigation, local authorities were able to identify the background of the videos as local sites and streets. They went on to identify the children as Dover residents.

Wright had been filming the sexual abuse of his victims through a camera hidden in a pair of sunglasses and sharing it online. The cases involving these two victims dated back to February 2011, according to video date stamps.

Because the shared videos had the potential to cross state borders, the federal government prosecuted Wright for the distribution of the child pornography. The abuse, however, was local.

“As important as the federal case was, these kids had been horribly abused by someone who had been charged with taking care of them,” said Velardi. It was the justice for this abuse that the Strafford County Attorney's Office sought when they pursued the case.

In March 2012, they offered Wright the plea deal, which he accepted on Monday.

The plea offer meant his case never went to trial. This spared the two victims as well as their families from coming to court. “They're all pleased to have this behind them,” said Velardi of the families involved.

He explained that plea deals are offered in every case. They require the defendant to enter a plea of guilty and forgo the trial. Those that take the plea waive their right to appeal the case.

Wright's recently added 50-year sentence will run concurrent with his federal sentence, meaning his sentence was not added to the end but overlaps the already standing 160-year sentence. He will serve his entire sentence in a federal prison.

“It is very unlikely that John Allen Wright will ever be walking the streets again,” said Velardi. In the event that he ever did, he would be at least 98-years-old and Velardi had special stipulations put on his release. If Wright were ever released back into society, he would be limited in Internet access and would be allowed no contact with children under the age of 16.

“The abuse of two local kids living in this community needed to be addressed and (Wright) definitely needed to be held accountable for abusing out neighbors,” said Velardi.

While the 50-year sentence will not add time to Wright's sentence, it symbolically serves as punishment for the actual abuse. Velardi described the sentence as necessary.

“I'm pleased for the families. It's a horrible thing for them to have gone through,” said Velardi.